This may not be the most sustainable package in the world, but at least that is what I have

been told since my childhood. At that time, it was not even recycled. It is this package’s advertising

that made people think this is recyclable and thus sustainable. Then it was my first idea when

thinking about sustainable packaging. That is why i will introduce this packaging. Therefore it may

also remember us how advertising can make us believe anything, even in the field of sustainability.

Actually, no worries, these packaging still display some really sustainable characteristics.

Sources- Diet for a New America, May All be Fed, John Robbins- Tetra Pak; Aseptic processing, Wikipedia.org- Aseptic packaging, Businessdictionary.com- Recycling aseptic packages; the hydrapulping process, Aseptic packaging council, 1992

Sustainable packaging:

Aseptic Packaging

• Energy-savingWhen filled with ultra-heat treated (UHT) foodstuffs (liquids like milk and

juice or processed food like vegetables and preserved fruits), the aseptic

packages can be preserved without chilling for up to one year.

The first consequence is that the product does not need any cold chain.

Thus, storage and distribution become more energy-saving from the

company’s storage up to the house of anyone.

Aseptic Packaging is a result of a process. Aseptic

processing consists in sterilizing separately a food product

(such as ultra high temperature (UHT) milk) and its package

before combining and sealing them under sterilized

atmosphere. In comparison, in a canning process both the

item and packaging are sealed as one unit and then heated

to sterilize them together.

The product

Sustainable ?

• Sustainable shapeAs this packaging shapes are

designed cuboid, transportation and

storage are far more efficient, in terms

of space.

• RecyclabilityWhen the product was launched in the 1960s, its recycling had not been foreseen

like it has be the case for any products or packaging. To achieve this, the main

problem remains in the dissociation of materials that make up this laminated

product. Nowadays, hydrapulping technology enables aseptic packaging to be

recycled by separating aluminium, paper and polyethylene. The high quality paper

pulp (70% of the package) can be recovered for use in making facial tissues, paper

towels, cardboard boxes and even fine writing paper. The residual polyethylene

(24%) and aluminium foil (6% ) can also be recycled into maintenance-free outdoor

construction products.

However, the major problem is that the hydrapulping facilities are not that common,

and thus the multimaterial packages are relatively difficult to recycle. That’s why the

biggest aseptic container company Tetra Pak launched several initiatives to increase

the recycling of these packaging.

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